11 posts tagged “race report”
This week I talk with two colleagues who ran the 2008 Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC on October 26, 2008.
For a great race report from this marathon, make sure you checkout Run Ansky Run, specifically this post, and this one.Direct link to the show.
All music on RunningRamblings comes courtesy of the Pod Safe Music Network. This week we heard:
Breakable by Ingrid Michaelson
As always, I love to receive your feedback, which you can send to
runningramblings@gmail.com. You can also see my mostly running posts on
Twitter by following www.twitter.com/runningrambling.
Finally, you can visit the blog at www.runningramblings.com
Running Podcasts Directory, http://www.runningpodcasts.org
TLC King of the Road 5k in Rockville, MD.
Direct link to show.
As always, I love to receive your feedback, which you can send to
runningramblings@gmail.com. You can also see my mostly running posts on Twitter by following www.twitter.com/runningrambling. Finally, you can visit the blog at www.runningramblings.com
See Corey Run
Running Podcasts Directory
www.twitter.com/cyberpenguin
www.twitter.com/jegill
Rockville 10K in Rockville, MD.
Direct link to show.
All music on RunningRamblings comes courtesy of the Pod Safe Music Network at http://music.podshow.com. This week we heard:
As always, I love to receive your feedback, which you can send to
- What About Us by The Cabs
- Be OK by Ingrid Michaelson
runningramblings@gmail.com. You can also see my mostly running posts on Twitter by following www.twitter.com/runningrambling. Finally, you can visit the blog at www.runningramblings.com
Running Podcasts Directory
The Extra Mile Podcast. Leave a comment for The Extra Mile at, (513) 397-0525
Here's the direct link to the show.
All music on RunningRamblings comes courtesy of the Pod Safe Music
Network at http://music.podshow.com. This week we heard:
- More Human Than Human by Ogunquit Moon
- Kill the Lights by David Usher
- Butterfly Serenade by Tripple6fusioN
As always, I love to receive your feedback, which you can send to runningramblings@gmail.com. You can also see my mostly running posts on Twitter by following www.twitter.com/runningrambling. Finally, you can visit the blog at www.runningramblings.com
Running Podcasts Directory, www.runningpodcasts.org
Worldwide Festival of Races (October 11-12, 2008), www.worldwidefestivalofraces.com
The Extra Mile Podcast, theextramilepodcast.blogspot.com. Leave a comment for The Extra Mile at, (513) 397-0525
Well it’s been a long time since I’ve produced a podcast – almost 3 months. There are a couple of reasons for the lack of a show; (1) I’ve been injured and have only run about five times since RR#14, and (2) I started a new job which has taken up a lot of my time. The good news for me on both counts is that the injury (Achilles) is getting better and I’ve been able to run a little. On the job-front, as I get more acclimated to the environment, I’m finding everything a little less stressful.
I should have a new RunningRamblings out shortly. In the meantime, this is just a quick post about the Kentlands/Lakelands 5K which was held this past Saturday. Since the race is just across the street from my house, I felt obligated to run. My injury is at the point where I could do that distance if I was careful, so I figured, why not?
Over 1,100 5K runners participated on the course that wound its way through the Kentlands/Lakelands neighborhoods in Gaithersburg, MD, just outside of Washington, DC. I was rather surprised that the course was fairly hilly, although it may have just seemed that way since I’m pretty out of shape cardio-wise.
My goal was to just have a good time and finish. Reinjury is not something I want to happen, so I wasn’t going to push things. The race started in waves 1-minute apart. I figured I would do around an 8-minute mile so I lined up with the second wave (7-8-min/mile). The first wave was for elite runners and, while I am not an elite runner; that is where I would have been if I weren’t injured since my 5K pace would have been 6:30-min/mile or so.
Anyway, the race started without a hitch and the first mile went by in a quick 6:52. During that mile, I started talking with a guy who was just getting back into running after a 5-6 year break. He’s been back at it for about 6 weeks and is faced with overcoming a sedentary lifestyle and smoking, which he recently kicked. Needless to say, he was in pretty good shape for the abuse he put his body through. His goal was to finish in 21-minutes.
Mile 2 took 7:10 due to some hills (upward inclines) and us falling into a comfortable pace. It was during the second mile that my lack of cardio fitness became apparent. However, at the end of mile 2, we were just around a 21-minute finish. So I decided to run with this guy as long as I could. I don’t think he had a watch, so I was pacing him. However, about a quarter mile into the third mile, I started to get winded. Instead of dragging this guy down with me, I told him that he was in good shape as long as I didn’t catch him. I wished him good luck and concentrated on getting myself across the finish.
Usually I end with a very fast kick. Not this time. It took all I had to finish the final half mile. I was actually embarrassed for myself, but I tried keeping things in perspective since I haven’t really been running much. When I finally saw the balloons marking the finish, I tried giving one final push but my tank was empty. I lumbered on and crossed the finish to see the guy I had been running with waiting for me. We congratulated each other and went our separate ways. I’m hoping he met his goal but I think he may have been off by 30 seconds or so.
Well here’s how I did: 151 out of 1,180 runners; 23rd out of 95 in my age group; with a time of 22:27 (7:14 pace). Overall I’m very happy with that and encouraged that I can still salvage some of my remaining 2008 running goals if I’m smart about it.
In this episode of Running Ramblings I'll be doing a race report covering the Pike's Peek 10K where I attempt to run a personal record for the distance. So load it up and give it a listen.
All music on RunningRamblings comes curtosey of the Pod Safe Music Network at music.podshow.com. This week we heard Microsmeta by SognoLucido and Faster Than You by Grantham Road.
As always, I love to recieve your feedback, which you can send to runningramblings@gmail.com. You can also follow my mostly running posts on Twitter by following runningramblings. Finally, you can visit the blog at www.runningramblings.com. Direct link to the show here.
You may have noticed there was no race report for the January 19, Shooting Star 5-mile run. Why? Because it was freezing and I chickened out. I mean seriously, I had no desire to get out of my warm bed and run in 20-something degree temperatures for a mere 5-miles. Of course, no sooner did I blow that off that I began to feel guilty. So this morning I ran the Country Road Run, another 5-mile race. It was still in the 20's but I figured I needed to get back in the swing of things and this could make up for the Shooting Star.
This race was held in Olney, MD along, as you might imagine, a country road. Despite the fact that it was cold, the run was really good. They just posted results and 290 people ran. I came in 79th with a time of 36:36. 69th out of men, 18/31 in my age group, and a 7:20pace. That's a good time for me considering I hadn't run much the week prior and didn't decide to participate until about 1:00am the night before.
As is usually the case, the food was very good, especially for a club race, and the course marshalls did a wonderful job keeping people aware of cars, ice, etc. Double thumbs-up go to those brave souls manning the water station. I doubt I could pass out water when it's that cold.
Overall, that's about all there is to report. I was able to kill two birds with one stone by participating in the race and creating a podcast. I didn't record while I ran but I did capture some of the pre- and post-race sounds. Give it a listen either here (RunningRamblings #0002) or by subscribing to the feed in iTunes, itpc://www.podshow.com/feeds/runningrambling.xml.
Today (Sunday, December 16, 2007) was the final race on my 2007 calendar - the Jingle Bell Jog 8K in Rockville, MD. This is the final race of the Montgomery County Road Runners Club Championship Series. I had planned to participate in this but injuries and schedule conflicts kept me from making the 5-run minimum for consideration.
The race started at 9am and I was still in bed at 8am, unsure if I was going to run. The night before, I told Lynn that I would likely run if it was not raining when I got up. Turned out that the weather was a lot better then the sleet and rain mix they had been calling for 24-hours prior. A fine mist came down throughout with temps about 34 degrees and not much wind. When I got home it started to pour, so we were lucky. The biggest issue with the weather was that I dressed too warmly.
About 280 people ran this race which started at the Rockville Senior Center and wound through a number of parks and residential neighborhoods. The course was billed as one of “rolling hills” – in other words, just plain hilly. This was not an event to attempt a personal record. The ground was wet, covered with leaves and portions were run on uneven asphalt park trails and side walk with a lot of tight turns. There were also many single-file areas, so if you got behind slower runners, you had to wait to safely pass.
My plan was to be as competitive as conditions allowed but mainly run for fun. I was doing well with that plan until about 2.5-miles in when my Achilles started to hurt. The pain increased over the next mile and I thought I might have to walk (I didn’t). At first I thought it was something I could run through but eventually it became apparent that I had hurt myself. So I fought that mental battle until the end.
Other then that, the run was uneventful - as far as I knew. When I was back in the Senior Center, post-race, a guy came up to me and asked if that deer had scared me. I had no idea what he was talking about. Well somewhere on the course he was running about 50-yards behind me when a huge deer, according to him, came running out of the woods and apparently almost ran me over! He yelled, “DEER!!”, which I heard, but since my hat was low on my eyes, it blocked some of my peripheral vision. The guy said he was positive I was going to get run over and need an ambulance. He remarked that if the deer didn’t hit me, I surely felt the wind as it rushed past me. He said that I was running alone at this point so the deer probably thought it was safe to make a dash. Either that or it was just spooked. Anyway, I laugh at the thought of being broadsided by a deer. That would be a good story to tell.
With the results in, I ran the 8K in 37:10 (7:29-mile pace) which put me 44th out of 136 men and 14th out of 24 for my age group (the 40-44 year old men were booking!). My overall finish was 50th place out of 244. The only lingering issue is my Achilles, which is very stiff right now. Fortunately I don’t plan on doing another race until January 19, at the earliest, and I should be fine by then.
So the 2007 Jingle Bell Jog was a success and thanks to the race directors and volunteers who did their best to clear the paths and direct traffic.
Happy Thanksgiving 2007!!
One of the great things about being a runner in this area is that on any weekend there is always a race to do, generally within 30-miles of where you may happen to be. Thanksgiving is no exception and this morning I started turkey day with a nice, pre-dinner 10K run with 7,000+ fellow runners in Bethesda, MD at the
Today was just perfect weather-wise. About 60 degrees and partly sunny at the start my myself and over 7,000 fellow turkey chasers. This race is the largest in Montgomery County and represented by many families. About 3,600 were registered for the 10K and a similar amount for the 2-mile walk/run. I wasn't expecting to do much today since I hadn't been eating well (for racing) and my training the past few weeks had been poor (very long runs on the weekends and almost no running during the week). Last night and the night before I woke up with really bad phantom pain in my hamstring, a left over for my injury a few months ago.
This race had a wave start (6:30/mile and faster, 6:30-8:00/mile half-fast, haha, and 8:00/mile and beyond). My plan was to start with the 6:30-8:00 group and see how it went. The course is very hilly and I knew that I'd probably start out too fast, which I did. Miles 1 and 2 went by in 6:45 and 6:56 respectively. Once the hills began, and I started to run out of steam, I did miles 3, 4, and 5 in 7:18, 7:46, and 7:24. The final 1.2 miles are pretty flat and I was able to pick up the pace to 7:03 and a major sprint for the last 0.2 at a 5:31 pace.
Around the start of mile 5, I heard a guy running next to me encouraging a fellow runner but I didn't see anyone. Then I noticed that a tiny girl (12-years old and maybe 80lbs) was running next to him. Now we were going at a good pace, so it was pretty impressive to see this kid. She was running with her firefighter dad and he was pacing her. I thought there is no way I'm letting this girl finish ahead of me but she was flying. Ultimately I pulled ahead and crossed the finish line about 7-seconds in front but, wow, what a race for her. Her chip time was only 1-second slower then me! My sprint to the end was driven by a 15-yeard old girl, who was determined to beat me. I had other ideas and we ran the last 0.2 miles shoulder-to-shoulder and she matched every bit of acceleration I threw in. However, in the end, she too went down and I beat her by literally 2 or 3 steps. My chip time was about 8-seconds faster. How pathetic is it that I'm getting any satisfaction out of finishing ahead of little girls?!?!? Man, am I lame. :-)
Speaking of kids, this race encourages participation of high school kids. When you register, you can select a school to sponsor and I did Northwest, Bria's school. It was interesting to see all the kids in my starting group and the number that passed me in the first few miles, only to run out of gas later in the race. All of the kids I'm speaking of looked like they ran track and were in good shape. I attribute most of their performances to lack of experience in pacing. It's so easy to let your adreneline get the best of you in the early stage of a race. Nevertheless, it was great to see so many kids in the event.
So how did I finish? Well I think I either set a PR or missed it by a few seconds (the results haven't been posted yet). My watch time was 44:37 with an average pace of 7:08/mi., so that would mean I missed a PR by 8 seconds, but this course is much tougher then the one in which I PR'ed. With the results now posted, I placeed 171 out of 1,748 men (34 out of 435 in my age group) in 45:57-gun time and 44:37 actual time. Overall I was 185 out of 3,317 finishers. So I did in fact miss a PR by 8 seconds, but that's just fine considering I didn't expect to run so well. The 2007 Turkey Chase was a great way to start the day and I'm looking forward to the 2008 event. Gobble, Gobble!!
The Rockville 10K/5K is, "The Oldest Continuing Race in Montgomery County". Here's a hand written course map. This is the third leg of the Rockville Triple Race Series and a part of the Maryland RRCA Grand Prix Series. The series was a great success last year with four new course records set for the open and masters male and female.
To compete in the Rockville Triple Race Series, you have to complete the 2007 DARCARS Pike's Peek 10k, the 2007 Rockville Rotary Twilight Runfest 8k and the 2007 Rockville 10k. Racers are scored according to their finishing place in the 3 races with the lowest cumulative score winning. Open runners are not scored with the masters runners, which gives old guys like me two chances of winning - not that I'm fast enough to win. Overall race series cash awards provide $250/$100 for the first and second place male and female open winners and $100/$50 to the first and second place male and female masters winners.
After two events, I was in 56th place out of 219 in the Open Male category and 28th place out of 126 in the Master Male (40 and older) category. Now in all honesty, I started to write this race report a week before the Rockville 10k mainly because I had some time on my hands. In fact, I hadn't even registered for the race and until I saw where I was in the Triple Race Series, I wasn't sure I was going to run. Unfortunately, I'm on some antibiotics from dental surgery so I'm not expecting to increase my position but my results are near the end of this post.
One comment on the course; I tried to drive it Saturday since I wasn't familiar with the neighborhood and got lost on the course - with a map!! Geez, I really can't stand the suburbs, everything looks exactly alike, and this was just 5 miles from my house. Ugh!!
Sunday at 8:30am under partly cloudy skies and temperature right around 45 degrees (perfect running conditions), 448 runners were off with a lackadaisical "Go" from some state senator or something. Clearly he is not a runner since there was no "omph" in the send off. Fortunately the crowd sent us out with loud cheers.
Since there were few runners (races around here usually get participants in the thousands), timing chips were not used and I started at the back of the first quarter of people. I began passing people immediately and I was lucky that the streets were not too narrow. Everyone around me seemed to be going out pretty quick (more on that later) as the first mile, which was slightly uphill, went by in 7min, 15sec. That would turn out to be my second slowest mile to a 7:16 mile 4. My splits were, 7:15 (mi. 1), 7:08 (mi. 2), 7:07 (mi. 3), 7:16 (mi. 4), 7:04 (mi. 5), 6:49 (mi. 6). The cool temperatures definitely helped everyone out but after mile 1, I don't think more than four people passed me. I kept reeling in runners and I think many just started too strong.
The day before, Lynn asked me what my goal was for the race. I hoped to crack the top 30 for my age group, but I had no idea how many people were in the field. That said, I just wanted a good run, didn't want to get passed near the end, and have a strong finish. With the exception of mile 4, I ran a negative split race (each mile faster than the previous), so you have to consider that a success.
One thing I did want was to ensure that no male, 40 years or older, finished ahead of who I could see. Somewhere during mile 4 I saw three guys fitting that description ahead of me. I kept them in my sights and on an uphill just before mile 5, I was able to overtake them. I then saw two more guys in the distance (one of whom passed me during mile 1 or 2) and thought it was going to be a challenge to catch them as they didn't seem to be running out of steam. I worked on them by slowly increasing my pace but making sure not to burn myself out.
With 2/10ths of a mile left (finish line in sight) they were about 10-yards ahead of me. I had about 5-seconds of doubt then kicked it into overdrive. The guy closest to me heard me approaching and turned his head. He picked up his pace but couldn't last. Now the last guy knew I was coming and seemed to have more left in his tank. He began running faster but I caught up and ran with him for about 5 steps before giving it all I had. I was flying (for me) at this point, coming into the finish. I could see that spectators were watching the three of us go at it and I ran for all I was worth. I crossed the finish ahead of both. Bria or Lynn took this picture of us racing to the finish and it does a good job of caputring our determination and people watching. Interestingly, the guy immediately behind me in the picture was the first I passed, so the guy in the gray must have spent himself because I had assumed he finished behind me until I saw the photo. Regardless, I felt very good and wondered how I placed overall in the field.
So here are the results. I set a new personal record for a 10K with a 44:39 time (7:10 pace). That put me 11th out of 43 in my age group (males 40-44), 44th out of 258 for men overall, and 49th out of 448 for overall participants.
Oh, remember that Rockville Triple Race Series thing I mentioned at the start of this post? Well I'm still waiting for the official results to be posted but if I calculated correctly (that's a big IF) I think I finished that in 4th place overall male and 4th or 5th place for the Masters group. Okay, they just posted the final talley and I finished in 7th place overall male and 5th place for the Masters group - still a great result. No one is more suprised about that than I. Obviously a lot of people didn't show for this race so I kinda of upped my position through attrition... but I'll take it!
To top off a very good race for me, Lynn, Bria, and Erin were there to cheer me on and that made me really happy. There's nothing like people yelling for you specifically on course when it is otherwise quiet and others are looking for that extra boost. So thanks for coming out sweetie, it was very cool to have you all there.
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